Military personnel involved in waterborne operations are commonly provided with both body armour and a personal flotation device (PFD). Body armour is typically provided in a two part garment that is fastened both at the shoulders and about the waist. The armour may be plate armour and/or more modern soft armour based on super-strong fabrics, and is usually retained in pockets located to give protection to at least the torso, both back and front. PFDs will usually have an inbuilt compressed gas cylinder with an automatic water sensing valve or a hand-releasable valve.
One obvious problem with these conventional arrangements is that, in a combat situation, the PFD may suffer puncture damage, rendering it useless for its primary purpose just when it may most be needed. To address this problem, integrated structures have been proposed. For example, international patent publication WO 2006/054972 discloses an inflatable personal flotation bladder device that lies protected behind the strategic plate of a body armour vest when in its deflated and compressed state, from which an inbuilt compressed gas cylinder can expand the PFD on command. US patent application 2011/0004968 proposes a quite different approach, i.e. a multi-part body armour suit with inboard flotation foam. U.S. Pat. No. 6,659,689 discloses an inbuilt pair of inflatable items: a first ring around the abdominal region which is quick releasable for discardal, and an overlapping removable ring that inflates around the neck to encapsulate the crico-thyroid cartilage, protecting it from compression.
Integrated structures in which a flotation bladder is protected beneath an antiballistic armour layer are also disclosed in European patent application 1587382 and U.S. Pat. No. 7,080,411. The latter discloses a line of studs or hook and loop fastening that breaks apart when the bladder is inflated.
There have also been disclosures, e.g. in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,182,662 and 3,475,774, of integrated garment structures, not armoured, in which a bladder inflates and expands out of the garment to provide PFD protection. US patent application 2011/0009020 discloses an inflatable bladder or flotation collar that can be inserted, attached or removed from a garment.
Integrated structures address the problem of protecting the uninflated bladder from puncture damage, but such structures may lessen the utility of the garment and its flexibility in different situations. For example, while it may be convenient to have a PFD with a protected inbuilt inflatable bladder, this can be the source of unnecessary discomfort when not required, and once inflated may be a serious encumbrance to motion. After deployment, the wearer may variously wish to retain the PFD and discard the armoured garment, or remain protected by armour and discard the PFD.
It is an object of the invention to provide improved configurations of armoured garment and personal flotation device that allow ready deployment of the PFD yet have inbuilt adaptability to a variety of field situations.
Reference to any prior art in the specification is not, and should not be taken as, an acknowledgment or any form of suggestion that this prior art forms part of the common general knowledge in Australia or any other jurisdiction or that this prior art could reasonably be expected to be ascertained, understood and regarded as relevant by a person skilled in the art.